Toronto Star’s Catherine Farley’s report
Catherine Farley, Graphic reporter of Toronto Star recently complied a report on the performance of GTA’s housing market based on Toronto Real Estate Board’s monthly market reports. Her study covered average and median home prices across the Greater Toronto Are (GTA), house prices adjusted to inflation, volume of house sales and also comparing price gains with the stock market (Toronto Stock Exchange; TSX composite) over the same time period. Catherine and her team unearthed some interesting analysis:
Average resale home prices have increased by a whopping 1,250% since 1969, about the same as the stock market, TSX composite index (1,244%).
- The house price and the TSX outstripped inflation by 2.5 times.
- Since the last price peak of $280,000 in 1989, the average home prices across Toronto fell 31 per cent, to a low of $192,405 in 1996
- Since the last peak, some areas have enjoyed gains of more than 100 per cent, but in 40 of 85 areas tracked by the Toronto Real Estate Board, prices have not kept pace with inflation.
- Home prices have been lowest in the month of January consistently in the last decade.
- May is the highest month for house prices, followed by December. One notable exception was 1989; prices peaked in October.